In March 1909, eleven-year-old Charles Phelps Taft II-then known as Charlie-moved into the White House with his parents, President William Howard Taft and First Lady Helen Taft. While Charlie was the youngest of the Tafts' three children and the only one who called the White House home, he already knew the lay of the land when he arrived.
Charlie Taft had frequently played with former President Theodore Roosevelt's children, joining a band of rascals that President Roosevelt dubbed the "White House Gang." They played hide and seek and set up obstacle courses in the halls of the White House.

The youngest Taft orchestrated similar shenanigans during his father's presidency. He once flew a model airplane off the White House roof and enjoyed operating the White House telephone switchboard. According to one story, he once told reporters that he would not give up his knickers (shorts), a sign of boyhood. When he finally did, it was newsworthy: "Charley is wearing his first pair of long trousers," the New York Times reported in 1910.

Following four carefree years at the White House, Charlie attended Yale University but withdrew to serve in World War I. He returned to finish his degree, and later attended law school at Yale University as well. He practiced law and eventually entered politics, serving as mayor of his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Charlie and his father can be seen in this 1917 image before he left for World War I. Image: Library of Congress